FSX/FSX-SE Aircraft and Panel Design Forum - How To

I read somewhere that the FSX SDK was included in the FSX pre-release, but I just downloaded it and can't see it in any directory. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Hi, I'm a newbe at panel editing, thought someone could help me with a panel gauge from a fs2002 a/c that shows transparaties as black in fs2004. Have previewed the gauge in fsps and PSP it shows the bitmap area as o,o,o, which is transparent in fs2004 but when displayed in fs it's black. I'm sure the answer is simple, but i,m just a simple newbe... Peter.

Anyone know of a Site that has pics of all the default gauges and their names?

Hi all Is there a list of symbols for use in XML gauge text. I am trying to get the small square used in the 737 FMC for data input. I tried & # 141 ; & # 143 ; shown on a ascii list but they only give a ?. Are they availible.

Hey guys,This might not be possible but thought I would ask.I need a door handle that animates as well as opens the passengers doors.I realise this is a 'dual fold' command, so I dont think it can be done.The XML I have that 'opens' the doors but wont animate is this;pilot_side_latch_knobHandPilot's DoorTOGGLE_AIRCRAFT_EXIT Many thanks in advance for your advice.BillLHC

Hi folks, I am adding extra click events to xml gauges so that soundbytes will kick in when flight deck mouse clicks happen. My own recorded sound files have a slight pause at the start which allows a gauge to operate first. However some pre-recorded files actually sound as the bmp is changing, switches etc.Could someone show me a piece of xml code which would introduce a time delay, preferablly alterable? This would be to allow any switch or lever bmp to change before the sound file played. This is to simulate a confirmation call from the PNF.Regards...Kenny

Hey guys,Anyone know where there is information on how to setup views that are entered into your Panel.CFG file?Many thanks,BillPS; Its not in the Panel.SDK

Jean-Luc asked in another thread:>Hi Bill,>>so for loop, I understand FS jumps to the next frame of the>animation at 18Hz (hence 1024/18 ~= 57). Is this supposed to>be time based in FSX instead of tick18?According to what we "heard," tick18 has supposedly been eliminated in FSX, but... it still works! Obviously so, otherwise all FS9 compliant models would be 'broken...' :)>As for other animations, there is no "18Hz" constraint isn't>it? you just set the L: Var as fast as you can and the model>will jump to the frame you would index directly with the L:>Var (well, you can do math but to stick to simple examples,>var from 0 to 1010 for frames fr…

I've been playing with a panel, and each time I get a little what must be a rectangle to the side of the panel where it drops away - how can I avoid this?I'll post a screenie, and the panel.cfgI've checked the bmp - and it's not got that in black - at a real lost.All the ( are square brackets in the panel.cfgThanks(Window Titles)Window00=Main Panel//--------------------------------------------------------(Window00)file=main.bmp size_mm=1024window_size_ratio=1.000 position=7visible=1ident=0gauge00=RealityXP_FLT!VerticalSpeed, 452,654,100,100gauge01=RealityXP_FLT!Attitude, 338,505,100,100gauge02=RealityXP_FLT!Altimeter, 463,494,100,100gauge03=RealityXP_FLN!VOR1, 572,49…

Hi allMy Gmax viewport display recently started to look like the attached JPEG when zooming in close to parts. I tried the suggestions on driver settings in the help file with no improvement.Are there any other settings I could try, or is my display card just not coping with the complexity of the model I am working on?

This may seem a silly question to some, and yes, I did spend considerable time reading here for help before I posted this. It's only that this issue has annoyed me for so long now that I felt I just had to ask. I'm certain that there's no better bunch to whom I might pose this question. My problem is, in many freeware and payware a/c the panel lights are too dim. Yes, sometimes the lighting within the gauges is acceptable, some more, some less, but more often it's the cockpit flood lighting overall that's inadequate. Sure, when I fly in a direction which allows sunlight to illuminate the cockpit it's fine, but when I need the floods, I haven't nearly enough to see. I g…

This link to the Airfile Decode Forum" at Avhistory.org has some comments on FSX relative to flight and powerplant models. Also, on the Beta SDK:In general, people are not impressed.RAF

hi,...i am Bart Oziembala (Dreamwings) searching for an experienced modeller (gmax) who would like to model some general aviation airplanes.we would start with the C150 and after that model a twin engine like the PA34 Seneca.you don't need to model the VC nor paint the textures. i will do the whole interior stuff and paint the exterior textures and create the whole paintkit.i will provide you with data and pictures of every part you need.if you are interested contact me via a reply, PM or the dreamwings forum.if you have any questions just ask :)see ya!!!

I just read an article in Aerospace Professional (a Royal Aeronautical Society publication) in which John Farley - a former Harrier Chief Test Pilot - was asked to comment on the modelling of the Harrier in the Wings Over Europe game. His comments were generally critical but he made a general comment that I found interesting. This was that there was a difference in design philosophy between US and British aircraft designers in his day. He believed US designers tended to make more use of autostabilision and higher stick-forces than did British ones. He said one consequence was that US aircraft tended to stop rolling once the stick was centred while British ones needed an a…

Hi Folks, could someone give me the info on how the FUEL_TANK_SELECTOR variables are made.I see from the FS2002 h file that there is quite a list of options for them.I want to play a sound file when I select the RightHand fuel selector on the default Baron 58 to ALL (at the top). I would turn on the Left one then the Right one and my sound file would play to confirm. I am using EasyGauge but am confused by the options in the h file. I cannot see how to define the Right Hand selector.Maybe someone could give me a clue as to the relevant code.An easier option maybe this :-The Baron uses XML for the Fuel Selectors but I do not know how to add in a sound file to the XML code.…

The new XtoMDL.exe program for FSX is "command line driven," meaning that there's no fancy-schmanzy GUI to use... ::)Did you know that you could create a shortcut on your desktop that would 'proxy' commands to another application? Create a shortcut on your desktop and enter the following for the 'target' (fix up c:temp to be the appropriate paths to the files):%windir%system32cmd.exe /K c:tempxtomdl.exe /DICT:c:tempmodeldef.XMLFor example, my "target" path is:%windir%system32cmd.exe /K C:AutodeskMax8FSX_Toolsxtomdl.exe /DICT:C:AutodeskMax8FSX_Toolsmodeldef.XMLYou can drag and drop onto that shortcut and a new .CMD window will open and stay open so you can see your resul…

Hello,I am working on a Vampire panel which had generally no nav aids. But I have installed and developped a double instrument which switches from RMI to ILS when you click in the center of it. My problem is the way to make dynamic helps according the instrument represented. I know how to switch from one static text to another through a callback, but not from one dynamic text to another. For instance my helps on the button should be :- When in RMI mode : "Switch between VOR1 and VOR2 (actually VORx active)"- When in ILS mode : "Course selector (actual course XXX degrees)" Any help would be greatly appreciated to transfer the values in the X variables.In fact, I don't know…

Hello!!Well, I'm having a problem trying to find a method/function to release a file that I am opening with this _img = Bitmap::FromFile(L"picture.bmp");I can open it and DrawImage it, but then I need to overwrite the file "picture.bmp", but it seems that the FromFile method is blocking it, so I need a function/method to tell GDI+ to release it...Does anyone know anything about this??Im trying to use graphics.Dispose() and graphics.Close() but when I compile it says that those methods doesn't exist on "gdiGdiplusGraphics.h"Thank you in advanceRafa

Hey guys,Trying to compile a huge model here and the girl doesnt seem to go. It states that it doesnt see the Interior node (VC) and so it starts to 'AutoCreate' one via MiddleMan.Anyone else have this happen to them? This is really odd.I tried a few things, like searching to see if there was a part that wasnt linked to either Interior or Exterior. I then tried starting a new 'scene' and imported everything over and exporting, and that too didnt work.Also, I checked and 'interior' is properly spelled.Does MakeMDL ever go corrupt? Has this happened in the past? Perhaps I am missing something here.Many thanks for any input here.BillLHC

Hey guys, Hope I am not being a bother today.I wish to set my VC front view at 75% and not sure how to go about it.Also, I think it would be pretty cool to have the rear 3/4 views done externally from the plane viewing over the elevators (from the pilots Z location of course, but outside the plane, such as about 6 inches out from the window plexi).How does one go about calculating a view point and angle? Many thanks for anyones help on this.BillLHC

Hey guys,Here's another 'odd' anomolly that Gmax is throwing at me.I have a part that I had made long ago. It is a prop collar that is animated and for some reason, for the last perhaps 75 builds, it is there, but has no name, no way to hide it, no way to delete it, and I think this is why I cant for some reason export with my interior. If the part doesnt have a name and yet is there and now way to access it, then I cant get rid of it and yet it also exports as an equal to 'exterior and interior', thus destroying the Hierarchy for proper Exporting...Any ideas on how to get rid of the rogue visible unmanipulatble 'demon' part?And yes, I tried importing into a new scene, …

Could anyone tell me if there is a way to save the size that I choose for a panel. For example, when I open the radio I usually resize it by dragging the corners to make it smaller. That works, but I woluld like to be able to have these panels open up to my chosen size whenever I open flight simulator and not hve to do this each time. Any help would be appreciated.

I have made a Gauge showing Amperes (Battery load) and voltage (Main Bus), using two needles and with one set of XML for each function.Originally it is a combined gauge with one needle and a switch for switching between Volts and Amperes reading.Now I need some assistance in how to code the switch-function to shift in between the two needles in the same gauge.Or is there perhaps a better way to code such a gauge and switch?Lars F

If you ever tried to develop shadow and highlights in C/C++ and had problems I wanted to share something I discovered the hard way over many hours of trial and error.First, you must have a version of imagetool that works. I had two different versions on my system, and found that one of them would not even open certain .bmp files. The working version is: imagetool.exe v1.0.0.2 160 KB (not the 184 KB version)Second, you MUST recompile the resources manually. While VS is supposed to recognize when a resource or file has been changed, and recompile it and all dependencies automatically, I have found that it misses the changing of these .bmp's for some unknown reason.…

Hi all.I am trying to do something I thought was simple. Adding prop rpm to the tooltip section (See gauge xml below)of this gauge from Rick Piper's great Armsrong Whitworth Argosy.When you hover the mouse over the gauge now, all you get is "No2RPM" and I would like to get the rpm like the gauge with his excellent HS748.I have a real good XML editor, Altova XMLSpy so editing is no problem.Any help would be great, I think I am missing something simple.&ltGauge Name="No2_RPM_Indicator" Version="3.0"> &ltImage Name="RPM_Background.bmp" ImageSizes="143,143" Luminous="0"/> &ltElement> &ltPosition X="72" Y="72"/> &ltImage Name="RPM_…